Deep tech innovation is powered by advanced computational techniques and tools supercharging scientific innovation. This revolution comes at an opportune time, as humanity is grappling with urgent existential problems such as climate change. There is a massive opportunity in this space for startups to build both general-purpose models and domain-specific AI models that combine domain expertise as well as AI smarts.

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The chemicals industry has a large carbon footprint and many of its processes result in toxic byproducts. Thus the time is ripe to find greener and cleaner chemical manufacturing processes. In the past two decades, synthetic biology technologies have been used to manufacture both commodity and specialty chemicals. These processes are now scaling up, attaining price parity with their chemical counterparts, and regulations around the world are keeping pace.

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Food systems are undergoing a significant transformation driven by unsustainable use of land and water resources and rising costs. This transformation is being led by biotechnology-based food products which enable food production in large scale bioreactors, thereby reducing land and water usage, while also enhancing productivities and driving down costs. The next decade is expected to open up opportunities for commercialization of these products, which will require support in the form of financial investments, infrastructure as well as regulatory acceptance.

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Synthetic biology uses techniques in genomics, systems biology and bioengineering to improve various aspects of agriculture, ranging from making food more nutritious to making more stress-resistant crop varieties. Agri-inputs, in particular, form a big part of this piece and startups in the field received more than $900M in VC funding in 2021. Going forward, more and more agri-inputs in use today will be replaced by more sustainable ones made using synthetic biology.

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Synthetic biology is the engineering of natural biological systems so as to obtain desirable behaviour and end products. SynBio techniques can be used across domains, ranging from agriculture and food to cosmetics to industrial chemicals. Investments in these companies have picked up globally, while the field remains nascent in India. The next decade and more will see a huge rise in the application of synthetic biology to create more sustainable versions of many current products.

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Behind-the-meter energy storage systems can help residential, commercial and industrial customers mitigate their frequent issues with the electricity grid. These systems both stabilize the availability of electricity as well as reduce the total electricity bills for their users. Lithium-ion and lead-acid batteries are currently the leading players for such systems, but other alternatives are speedily being developed.

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Energy storage systems are required in increasing number as renewables become part of the global energy mix. The requirements placed on batteries to stabilize and support the grid are numerous: no single battery chemistry can fulfill all these requirements. Lithium-ion batteries are currently the leader in grid-scale storage; however, other chemistries are rapidly approaching commercial deployment.

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The climate crisis is driving the uptake of renewables and diversifying the global energy mix. Renewables and energy storage systems go hand in hand. Different energy storage systems are appropriate for different applications, ranging from mobility and short-term storage to large long term-storage systems. It is an opportune time to enter the market, and early-stage investments in energy storage startups are picking up in India.

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Deep-science tech innovators are working on solving some of the world’s most pressing problems. Their companies work at the intersection of science and technology to bring technologies from lab to market. Deep-science tech generally involves longer timescales, and hence also requires appropriate support. Investing in such companies is also more risky than general technologies, and investors can mitigate this risk by following a playbook we provide.

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The Indian startup ecosystem did very well in 2021, with over 40 unicorns minted. However, investments in fundamental change have been missing. To go beyond incremental changes, we need deep technology-based solutions from India that have the potential to scale globally. At Ankur, we’re willing to back innovations that will disrupt the course of tomorrow.

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